Clothes-washing machine



June 25, 1929. D. a. SMELLIE CLOTHES WASHING MACHINE Filed Nov. 5, 1924s Sheets-Sheet" 1 000090 0 060 0090900 adeooeeooo ooeeooueoe .2 D. cs.SMELLIE 1,7 3 61 I CLOTHES WASHING MACHINE Filed Now 5, 1924 qSheets-Sheet v3 Fig .3.

57 sa V 54 Do ald 6.5mellie Fig.4.

B AH'orn'e part of the actuating, mechanism; and

UNITED sr Patented June 25, 1929.

i DQNALD G. SMELLIE, 01"

mYwoon, ILLINOIS, a'ssronon To a coaronarrorr or 01110.

- 1 ,71 ,261, Fr es.)-

rim noov'na comm,

cmrnns-wasmno' MACHINE.

:bpplioation filed Iovember 3 The primary object of the invention is theprovision of a new and improved type of e clothes washingmachine whereinthe washing element, comprising the well known vacuum cup, is actuatedin a novel manner by a new form of mechanism and more particularlywherein there is combined in the clothes washing machine acentrifugewhereby. the clothes may be washed and rinsed and wrung out withoutremoving them from the machine. I- The invention involves not only novelmechanism for operating the vacuum cup but also includes anew and novelmethod of centrifuge driveand mounting together with a novel and'eflicient form of drive there- 1 for, the'whole being so arranged andconstructed that the operation of washing clothes may be done with theleast expenditure of human effort and with a maximum of convenience.

For a clearand full understanding of my invention, reference ishad tothe accompanying drawings wherein?- Figure 1 is a substantial throughthe machine; v Fig. 2 is anenlarged detail of the upper part of theyactuating mechanism;

\ Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail of the lower sectional View Fig. 4 is anenlar cup elevating cam.

The machine disclosed in the drawings has the usual main supportingframe and tub 11 having a top-12. Located centrally of the bottom of thetub there is rovided a housing for the operating shaft w ich housingtapers onic'ally in both directions substantially-from the tub tom, andwhich is indicated generally by 13. Suspended from this conical housing13'is a cylindrical housing formed as a part of the conical housing andextending downwardly from substantially the bottom of the tub whereinthe speed reducing mechanism is housed this cylindribal housing'beingdenoted by numeral 14, Within housings 13 s and 14 there is a series ofshafts comprising central'shaft 15 which is the shaft for driving thewashing mechanism' and which has formed on the up er end thereof anangular crank '16, the angu arity being one-half of the desired cupthrow. Immediately surrounding shaft 15 is provided annular shaft 17carrying at its upper end a slotted glnde 18.

ged view of the vacuum mechanism cups.

through the co-operation of and 31. As shown in the dra the vacuum'cup30-will have a substantial rocking 110 1924. serial no; 741,4;

Qn shaft 15 and at the base of crank 16 there IS provided-a cam member19 whose upper face is inclined one-halfthe hngle ofthrow of the vacuumon v rocking mechanism. Driven b crank 16 t ere is provided a memherwhic may be termed the cup rocking which comprises member 20 havmglocated centrally thereof a bore inclined relative to its exteriorbearin mounting one-half the angle of the desire cup throw adapted formounting on crank 16 andzhavlug/a lower face normal to the axis of thebore, the sum of the angularitios ofthe. crank 16 and bore of member '20being the desired tot'al crank angle. The lower face of this member120is also provided; with a tooth 21 co-operating with guide slot 18 inannular shaft 17, and theentire member is'secured to crank 16 by meansof capscrew 22. Mounted on member 20 by means of the ball bearl ings 23and lock ring 24, are two members 25 .and'26 whichconstitute the actualmeans impartilnlg rocking motion to the washing ember 25-hasformedthereon teeth 27 asis clearly shown in the dra 0 and member 26 isprovided with an fillsing shaft portion such as 28 on w 'ch is mountedcup arm member 29 to which the vacuum cups 30 are secured at itsextremities. Gear teeth 27 on member 25 co-operate with 8! gear teeth 31on an'nularmember 32 to pro- Y vent relative rotation between annularmem- 'ber 32 and the vacuum clip operating means comprising members 20,25 and 26 when i there are the same number 'of teeth in each of thegears 27 and 31. Should it be desirable to. have relative rotationbetween these two parts such-may be readily obtained and inatdefiniamount by varyin the number of teeth in the two gears an theconsti'uction can. be such that the relative rota,- tion between theparts will be either clockwise or counterclockwise as found desirableThe-o ration of the mechanism thus for describe is, that onrotation ofshafts 15- and 17 which necessarily rotate v her as. will be hereinaftermore fully escribed, crank. pin 16 will be causedto rotate and due toits angularity and that of member 20 the cup operating mechanism 26 and25 10 will be caused to have a gyratory motion since substantial rotarymotion is gear teeth 27 i-movement andthe actual travel thereof will bethrough an ellipse the major axis of which is vertical, and due to theslight angularity at which the cups enter-the water, and because of theangle atwhich they operate on the clothes contained in the machine-therewill be a certain tendency to cause the whole 7 sustaining structure, orwhat might be better termed the constraining structure, comprisingannularmember 32 and the parts associated therewith, to rotate somewhatabout itsaxis, or it may be that under certain con-' ditionsof loading;the member 32 will not .revolve. but that instead the clothes willtraverse thecircumference of the centrifuge, and thus the cups will notalways operate on the clothes at the same point but will traverse thecircumference of. the tub acting on various portions of the clothescontained therein at. various times.

Surrounding the upper part of the coni struction thus far describedthere is provided v entangled therein,

I mounted on shaft 28 and may protection at member .32 to prevent Waterand soap from being splashed up into the mechanism and to preventclothes becoming anyway en- The vacuum 'cup carrying lowed to rotatefreely thereon was is found more practical "in actual operation. thisparti'eular matter not being in any way of the essenceof the invention.1 J

So far the description of the construction of this machine has only beenin connection with the upper end of the vacuum clip driving means andnow a.descrintion will be Jgiven of the upper end of the centrifugecomprising an annular Annular member 32 heretofore noted decreases atthelower-end to a smallerdiameter shaft 35 which is mounted inball'bearings 36carried by the upper portion of conical housing 13, andin turn within the lower portion of the annular part 32 there isprovided a' ball bearing mounting 37 in which runs the inner cup drivingshaft. Mounted on annular member 32 is a further annular member 38comprising the supports for the centrifuge tub and which ispreventedfrom rotation relative thereto by means of stud '39, the centrifuge tubbeing indicated at 40 as a large diameter basket provided withperforations 41 through which the water from the clothes maybe ejected..A floating sleeve or collar ,81 surshroud 32 rounds the conical centerof the washing compartment serving to prevent the load of clothes fromgradually tightening downon the center portion of the container andbeing unduly stretched or' torn on account of the combination of acentrally directed motion of the cups in a substantially vertical plane;and a lateral component due to the} assage of the cup from one side ofits elliptical orbit to the other while in contact with the clothes. i

The upper part of the drive mechanism having been described, thelowerrpart will now be described and then the relation between the twoparts will be'evident.

For rotating shaft 15 there is provided a friction disc of largediameter, the friction disc having a square centralopening receivingsquared portion 42 of 'shaft 15 whereby rotation of disc 45 will rotateshaft 15. ,-It should be noted that that portion of shaft 15 whichprojects below the lower end of annular shaft 17 is' squared as at 42,and

immediately below the lower end of shaft 17 there is provided a collar43 secured to shaft 15 by pin 44.

f v ,Extending upwardly from disc 45 there is V f an annular member '46carrying P1118 47 co-operating vwith'cam grooves 48' formed in annularshaft 17.

On the annular a closure plate 50 secure thereto by means such as bolts51 and inthis plate is provided bearing 80 in which disk 45-is mountedfor rotation. Pivoted'to boss 52 formed on plate 50-there is'provided acam raising mech} housin 14 there is secured anism 53 pivoted on amember such as 54."

This cam member comprises an arcuate cam of this cam portion attheflat55 there .is provided shoulders such as .57 adapted to co-operate withwasher 58 capscrew 59.

The outer annular shaft 35 comprising the centrifuge. drive is providedat its lower erid withla friction disc 60.

For driving the entlre machine therc is provided anelectric motor 61mounted on arm 62 which arm is pivoted on the bottom of tub 11 by means0 a pinsuch as 63,'the other end of'the pivoted arm being'carried on acrank 64 which crank through' blo-lckand slot 65 and 66 respectivelyallows pivoted arm 62 to be raised or lowered. Mounted on shaft '67 ofmotor '61- there are two bevel friction discs 68 and 69 respectivelyadapted to co-operate with bevel discs 45 and 60 respectii'rely.-

now be set forth. i

For washing clothes the machine .is operated in the condition as shownin the draw:

The construction of the machine having 4 been described, the operationthereof will vformed with flats at each end such as 55 and H a risingportion as at 56.- On thelower end secured to the lower end vof shaft 15by a member such as ings .withthe exception that crank 64 is turned'soasto bring' bevel-wheels45 and '68 into contact. Then on;operation ofthe 1' motor, wheel- 68 will-be driven through 'op-- 5 eration of motorshaft 67 and wheel 45 will in'turnbe driven, but at a; relatively lowrate of speed due to the difference in peripheral'len'gths of wheels(SB-and 45. Through (co-operation ofthe square opening in' disc' crank16 will be rota ed causing gyratio'n of cup carrying shaft 28, sincerotation thereof is prevented by coaction of gear teeth 27 and 31. i

. orderto wrin them, crank arm 64' isturned I'upwardto take discs68 andout of con- -tact and cam lever 53 is swungabout its pivot to raiseshaft 15 on camtraek 56 and to sustain the shaft in raised position-onflat. '25 portion 55 of the cam. Raisingof shaft-15 will-cause"shaft 17to be raised therewith. due to collar 43 secured to, shaft 15 and sincepins 47 remain'stationary they will. because of the inclination of .camgrooves 48 cause 180 degree rotation of shaft 17 with respect to shaft15, which rotation causes v the member 20 because of (reaction betweenslot 183.116. tooth 21 to rotate through an angle of 180 degreesaroundaxis of crank 16 whereby the angularity of-the crank 16 and thebearing seat onanemher 20compensate and. the" cup operating shaft 28 isbrought into a vertical position. Raising of shaft 15 notonly acts as.above mentioned 40-. but also raise's the entire cup drivingmet-h anismandthereby raises the cups out of the water so that the. centrifuge maybe operated without conflict therewith.

,Foruactual .rotation of the centrifuge,-

crank shaft 54 is raised still further until disc 69 contacts with discand on operation ofthe 'motor outer annular shaftf35 will be' causedto.-rotate at relatively high speed because of the approximately equal50 perimeter of the dise'faces and .because of the connection by'member39 between-the upper enlarged annular end 32 of the shaft and member 38.of the-eentrifugeithe centrifuge will be caused to rotate at relativelyhigh'spe'ed. I

--Attention;i s directed to 'thedesign' of the T entire mechanismwhereby the matter of as- Sernbly is'greatly simplified notingparticularly the construction wherein the entire 00 mechanism fordriving .the machine comprises two units, one the large'unit-containedin conical housing 13 and annular housing 14, which unit. is put in fromthe bottom of-Ithe machine and then secured '6 in place the other unitcomprising the piv- After theclothes have been washed,

. in slot 66. By this construction it is made very "easy to service thismachine since "should anything go wrong theentlre works may be-taken outwith a minimum of'tro uble and anew unit-may be replaced or a serviceunit substituted while repairs are being made atsome place where thereare ample facilities for such repair work.

Another important feature is the construction-whereby danger of oilleakage of I v the machine is substantially eliminated inso that any oilor grease from the working parts will fall down into the lower'part ofhousing 14 and will drain down into the solidbottom cam portion.ofpivoted lever 53, which,'should this beco'me full will over-. s5

- flow slightlyand give indication, that there is'an excess of oil inwhich event itis very easy to remove this member and to empty out suchexc'essoiL. I i V It will be seen from the abovc de'serip tion that Ihave provided a washing machine which is very simple in construction andone in which there is provided very novel means of shifting from washingcon-- dition to condition for-centrifuging and one wherein the-matter ofassembly and repair is greatly simplified because of the partieulardesign employed. 'Also the design is one wherein the parts are easyto manufacture, simple and durable. A

I' claimi v v v 1." In a clotheswashing machine, a revolubly drivenshaft having an angular crank-thereon, agitating means 'gyrated'l'iy thecrank, and means simultaneously raising the agitating means andcompensating for the angularity of the crank. 1

2. In a clothes-washing machine, a rev olubly driven shaft, having an.angular crank, a bushing thereon of angularity equal thatofthe' crank,a gyrating member mountedon the bushing in operative relation'anil v Imeans limiting relative rotation of the shaft and the gyratorymember. a

3. Ina clothes washing machine, :1 revolubly driven shafthaving anangular crank,- a bushing mounted thereon having interior and'exteriorbearing surfaces disposed in. angularrelation equaling the angularityof: the crank; and means varying the total angularity of the crank andits bushing. .7

4. In a clothe. washing machine, a revolubly' driven sha an angularcrank there-- on, a ,member fgyrated byrevolution of the shaft, andmeans including an annular shaft surrounding the driven shaft and havingpin and slot connection therewith to on relative rotation of the shaftvary the effective angularity of the crank.- v

5; In a clothes washing machine, a driven I I a Q shaft, an angularcrank onf the shaft," an

bushing having a' proj ecting tooth, an annu 'lar shaftabout' the drivenshaft, driving angular bushing onthe crank andanxagitating membermounted on' the bushing,'.the

.i means "for-theI driven and annular shafts,

I the a'nnul'ar shaft having a slot, at itsiipper "end;;and1-at itsvlow'ei: en d having pin and inclined. slot connection withthedrivingmeans, and means moving the driven and" annular shaftslongitudinally relative to the" drivingmeans.

6. In a clothes washing machine, a'driven shaft, clothes lagitatingmeans amount-ed thereon, :and meansvertically moving the driven;SllllfllQOIl'lPllSlIlg a nember having a cam surface supporting saidshaft and havingiwell definedfiat surfaces at-its high and-low points,said memberenclosing the lower endof said shaft.

; 7.- A clotheswashing machinecomprising a receptable and a supportingframe, a vertical shaft mount/ed c'entrallyf'of' the re.-

' ceptacle and having an oblique crank portion -at the free. end,"aclothes agitator .mountedonsaid crank portion, a source. of power, andmeans acting simultaneouslyto raise said clothes agitator to move" said.oClOtllS agitator to a position COtlXliLl'; with '-said verticalshaft,- and to disconnect it from thefsourcexof power.

8, A clothes washing machine comprising 1 a receptacle, asupporting'frame' thereon, a

vertical shaft mounted centrally of the receptacle, a clothes agitatormounted on said verticalshaft with its axis at an angle to that or theshaft, means to raise said shaft and agitator andsimultaneously' to movesaid agitator to 'a position coaxial with said vertical sha 9. In acldtheswashing machine, a tub,

- operating means centrally disposed thereof,

an open top protecting shell surrounding the operating means, clothesagitating means operated by'the operating means, the clothes agitatingmeans having aproteetive portion for the operating means and atelescoping shel l ov'erla ping the open :top protecting shell andthejprotecting portionrcarried by theclothes agitating-means. j:

1-0. In a clothes washingmachine, a driven shaft, an angular crank onsaid shaft, .an agitator-supporting bushingo'n the angular crank havingan angularly disposed bore,

an annular shaft enclosing the driven shaft power transmission means andState. of Illinois, this andadaptedto rot-ate. therewith, ineaxis preventingrelative rotation bbetweenfsaid bush"-' 'ing and said: annularshaft and means to rotate said annular shaft relative to said 6.0L

driven shaft to vary the total angularity of the angular-crank and'thebushing.

c '11-. Inaclothes washing'machine, a dri'ven' 1- shaft, an angularcrank on said shaft, an 1 agitator supportingbushing on the angularcrank having an angularly dis 'osedbore, an. annular shaft enclosingthedrivenshaftand 7 adapted to rotate therewith, means )revent ingrelative rotation between saidv ushingf and said anni'ilarshaftcomprising a project ng finger on said bushing 1n interfitting:

relation with the slottedendof said annul'ar shaft, and means to rotatesaid annular the total angularity of the angular: cran and the bushing.

number of teeth of the two toothed members.

'13. In a clothes washing machine an agitating cup gyratlngmechanismcomprising shaft relative to said driven shaft to 'varK I a drivenshaft, an angular. crank on said shaft, cup-carrying arms rotatablymounted on said crank and differential me ans giving said cup-carryingarms an angular rotation lcssthan that of said angular crank.

-' 14.,A- clothes washing machine comprising a tub.'- having a housingat its "center, said-housing-consisting of a frusto-conlcal portionextending into said tuband providing supporting means for agitatingmeans in said-tub, an inverted frusto-conlcal port on extending belowsaid tub' andproviding sup.- r

port for a driven shaft'extending through said housing and a cylindricalhousing having a bottom closure which encloses said in vertedfrusto-eonical portion and houses the connected to the driven shaft.-

Signed at Chicago,:in the county of Cook,

toberpA D. 1924. g

' j DONALD G.- s ELn E.'-..

